A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Comments are greatly appreciated and motivate me to continue. Also, if you have not done so already I HIGHLY encourage you to sign the petition to save numb3rs from being cancelled. The link can be found in my profile. :)

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Alan's day was not off to a very good start. He woke very early that morning upon hearing his front door slam shut, odd considering the house's other occupant was the one prone to sleeping in. He knew that Charlie had been helping the FBI with an important case, but the case was already in the hands of the attorney's office and Charlie's classes were never scheduled before ten a.m. so he was unable to puzzle out why his son had left so early. The reason became clear however, when Charlie called an hour later informing his that two agents were on their way to retrieve him.

"Dad, I can't really explain everything over the phone, but you need to come down to the FBI office." Charlie said tersely. "Something happened with the case I was helping with."

"Charlie, what's wrong?" Alan asked, concerned.

"I…uh…there were pictures. Surveillance. Of you and me, and the house. And of Don. I just, I need you to come. Please?" Charlie stuttered out, making little sense.

"Charlie, son, I don't understand. Slow down and tell me what's going on. What exactly happened?" Alan asked in a patient tone, the hairs rising on the back of his neck. He knew Charlie could be a little excitable, but he could plainly hear just a slight undercurrent of fear in his son's voice.

"Dad, my office at CalSci was trashed. I got a phone call from the police early this morning. Whoever broke in tripped an alarm. They left pictures. Someone isn't too happy that I helped out with the Barone case." It took Alan a full minute for Charlie's words to sink in.

"Wait a minute Charlie. This big case that you were helping the FBI with, it was against Carter Barone?!" Alan asked, shocked.

"Yeah, Dad," Charlie breathed out. "I was able to finally put together enough of the pieces of evidence for it to really stick. He's done for. He just isn't happy about it."

Alan was speechless for a moment as two very different emotions warred for dominance. One was pride. Charlie had apparently assisted in putting a vicious criminal behind bars, one whose exploits were known throughout Los Angeles County, to think that his son was responsible for that was astounding.

The other emotion was fear. Alan distinctly remembered news reports from a year ago, when Barone had been on trial before. Key witnesses had disappeared, a judge's daughter had been kidnapped, brutalized, and left to die; and the man had walked free. Now, it was Charlie who was in between this man and freedom.

"Dad, are you still there? Look, Colby and David are going to come get you. I just need Don's number, I think I lost it again and he needs to come down too."

"You think these men might go after Don?" Alan asked worriedly as he searched for his elder son's number.

"That's what Megan thinks. She said Barone likes to do things for shock value and hurting Don would be sure to make front page news." Charlie said darkly. Alan located the number and rattled it off for Charlie.

"Thanks Dad. Colby and David should be there soon." With that Charlie had ended the call and left Alan to pace the house waiting for his FBI escort. When the doorbell finally rang, Alan's heart jumped into his throat, but Colby's voice from the other side of the door alleviated his fears slightly.

"Mr. Eppes? It's Colby and David. We're here to give you a ride to the office." Alan opened the door and began to step through, but David's hand stilled his forward progress.

"Before we go Mr. Eppes, we'd like to take a look around if that's alright. There were photos taken of the house and we'd like to make sure nobody has broken in." Alan frowned at that, not liking the idea that someone had potentially been inside of his home without consent.

"Do whatever you need to boys." With that, the two agents began prowling around the inside and outside of the house. Eventually, the pair returned to Alan.

"Well it doesn't look like anyone has been inside, but Charlie already did some calculations based on the angles of the photographs and he's fairly confident that they've been within 20 yards of the property." David informed Alan.

"We'd like you to get some stuff together for yourself and Charlie so you can stay somewhere else for a few days, just as a precaution." Colby continued.

"Do you really think that's necessary?" Alan asked, his worry dialing up a notch. The agents just nodded solemnly. Alan did as instructed hurriedly and the agents loaded the packed bags into their vehicle and the trio departed. Alan was silent during the ride still attempting to wrap his head around the danger his family faced.

At the office, Alan had attempted to put on a brave face for his younger son, focusing on his pride at Charlie's bravery to assist the FBI rather than the fear of the danger that help had put him in. When his older son arrived, he could tell that Don was not able to do the same. Don had always been like that, channeling his fear into more aggressive emotions. As a father, Alan could see through Don and recognize the cocky, arrogant posturing and anger for what it was - uncertainty and worry. Watching his son storm out, followed by a scowling agent, it was clear that others weren't able to read his son at all.

"I take it your talk didn't go well?" Alan asked as Charlie stepped out of the conference room.

"Don said he would call you later, Dad." Charlie responded tiredly.

"Who was the agent that followed Donnie out?"

"Oh, that was Ian. He's helping out on this case. Megan has brought him in for difficult cases before. He's a good guy. He'll look out for Don."

"He didn't look happy about it. Are you sure Don will be alright with this man?" Alan asked, concerned.

"Well, you know how Don is. They seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot, but I'm sure Agent Edgerton won't let that affect his ability to guard Don" Charlie stated firmly. Megan chimed in at this.

"Alan, Agent Edgerton is one of the best senior agents in the bureau. I'm having him go with Don since he is the most likely target."

"Donnie has always been stubborn. I don't think he realizes just how serious this is." Alan replied worriedly. Megan shook her head.

"I talked to Don on the way over and made sure he understands the severity of the situation. Regardless, with Agent Edgerton with him, I believe your son will be safe." Megan gestured for Colby and David to join them.

"Colby and David are going to be taking you and Charlie at a safe house for now, and I'm going to be working on the leads we have. We already know that someone connected to Carter Barone is responsible for these threats, so it's just a matter of finding the right one out of is associates. This should all be resolved soon and you can put this behind you." Megan tried to reassure, before heading off to continue the investigation.

Alan watched Megan go then turned towards his younger son, who was fending off questions from David and Colby.

"So that was your brother Charlie?' Colby asked with a grin. David looked concerned.

"He looked like he was going to hit you for a minute there. You'd think he'd be a bit more appreciative of you trying to make sure he doesn't get caught up in this." Charlie just gave a slight shrug.

"Well I did get him into this in the first place, so I can't really blame him for getting mad. I mean it's not every day you get told that people are making death threats."

"I dunno, I think your brother has received a fair amount of those over the years." Colby commented. Charlie looks startled.

"What do you mean? Why would my brother get death threats?"

"Uh, Charlie, when he broke contract with the Yankees four years ago, right after they won the World Series things got ugly. I'm from New York. The newspapers there were calling him the most hated man in the city. I wouldn't be surprised if he got threats then." David said. Charlie turned to Alan.

"Is that true?" Charlie asked. Alan shrugged.

"Don was very tight lipped when he came back from New York. I don't know, son."

"And the press all said it was because of that model. The one he was engaged to, that he abandoned his team over some woman." Colby commented. Alan had heard enough at this point. Was this really what everyone thought about his son?

"Don did leave the Yankees over a woman. His mother. He left to come back here when he found out she had cancer." Alan said flatly. Colby blushed, as if just realizing how his comments must have sounded to the older man. He began to apologize, but Alan just waved him off.

"It isn't anything people haven't said already."